Tamaroak wrote:
I'm going to be doing the Great Loop (south through the Great Lakes to
the Mississippi, down the Tenn-Tom, around Florida and up the ICW to
Canada, then back to Lake Superior) starting next August and returning a
year later. My kids will be learning online and we will need some sort
of reliable and medium fast Internet connection. What is going to be
available then that I should start watching for?

Capt. Jeff

This summer I've used a cell phone connection through Cingular. The
computer is "connected" to the phone through Bluetooth, and is using
the WAP connection that is primarily marketed for stock quotes, news,
etc. The $20 unlimited service works fine, though there is some
debate as to whether Cingular will permit this in the long run. If
you talk to support, it is not allowed, but nowhere on the site or in
the contract is it mentioned. The data connect is faster than a high
speed phone line, but its a stretch to call it broadband. I'm told
that the "proper" connection, for which they charge $75 a month, uses
EDGE which is somewhat faster, but since Cingular is not very
forthcoming about this, the info is largely myth and rumor. Verizon
has been marketing something similar for $60 a month unlimited usage.

I've also used the data mode on the phone when I've traveled, mainly
for weather radar and stock quotes. I've been surprised that the
coverage has gotten much better over the last few years. In fact, I
was able to surf the web halfway between Boston and Ptown, at least 10
miles from any land.